[community] Differentiating Accessibility, Universal Design and Inclusive Design

Wed Oct 26 06:46:24 UTC 2016

Thanks Jutta and all for the invitation to contribute to this thinking!

I see Jutta's statements as very powerful, and have here woven in a few
lines of my own emphasising Intention and Empathy as well as weaving in key
ideas suggested by others in this stream. I hope this helps a bit?

***
'Accessibility' is a term to describe is an intended outcome for persons
who experience disabilities or other social, physical, educational,
health-related, intellectual or cognitive barriers to full active
participation in all aspects of daily life.

'Universal design', as it is currently articulated, is a term which
describes a prescriptive set of universal quality criteria for a design
tool. Universal Design, as expressed in the English language definitions
currently in use, assumes a 'norm' or 'mainstream' population for whom
tools, services and technologies can best be designed, and then further
assumes a set of 'marginal', 'extreme user groups' who are seen to
'deviate' from the norm in some way, and are described in terms of their
'deficits' and their 'special needs' in relation to achieving the tasks of
daily life using tools designed for the assumed 'normal' majority.

Inclusive Design is a term which rejects the notion of a 'norm' and which
insists instead that each individual person is best defined in accordance
with her or his own strengths and abilities,  and which further focuses on
a) achieving an integrated personal fit for the full range of human
diversity, b) the process of design and who participates in the design
decisions, and c) the indirect impact of the design or the design in its
larger context.

Inclusive design is more than an outcome or a set of design criteria. It is
an informed, systemic approach arising from years of intense participatory
action research using a community design methodology, which intends to
guard against the risk that persons will be excluded by the outcome, the
set of criteria, the design process, or the indirect impact of a design. As
such, 'Inclusive Design' as a term encompasses both 'accessibility' and
'Universal Design'.

'Inclusive Design' is an holistic social, educational and technological
methodological approach: a methodology comprising key tested tools for the
informed co-design of a more inclusive society, accessible to all people.
'Universal Design' is one of the methods or tools that can be tested in the
overall methodology of ID. Accessibility of all public spaces, public
ideas, services, educational and communication technologies, and
personalised versions thereof, is the aim or intention of Inclusive Design.

***

All Best, Lizbeth

On 25 October 2016 at 21:35, Liskovoi, Lisa <lliskovoi at ocadu.ca> wrote:

> I like this definition of accessibility from My Blind Spot (
> http://myblindspot.org/mbs-accessibility-defined/):
>
> Accessibility is the degree to which a product, device, service, or
> environment is available to as many people as possible. Accessibility can
> be viewed as the "ability to access" and benefit from some system or
> entity. The concept often focuses on people with disabilities or special
> needs (such as the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities)
> and their right of access, enabling the use of assistive technology.
>
> ________________________________
>
> LISA LISKOVOI
> INCLUSIVE DESIGNER AND ACCESSIBILITY SPECIALIST
> INCLUSIVE DESIGN RESEARCH CENTRE
>
> T 416 977 6000 x3961
> E lliskovoi at ocadu.ca<mailto:lliskovoi at ocadu.ca>
>
> OCAD UNIVERSITY
> 100 McCaul Street, Toronto, Canada M5T 1W1
> www.ocadu.ca<http://www.ocadu.ca>
>
> On Oct 25, 2016, at 4:11 PM, Treviranus, Jutta <jtreviranus at ocadu.ca
> <mailto:jtreviranus at ocadu.ca>> wrote:
>
> I’m part of a number of UN Committees and was requested to both define
> inclusive design and differentiate inclusive design from accessibility and
> Universal Design.
>
> I would love to get your thoughts and suggestions as this will go into
> some fairly far-reaching documents.
>
> Here is my proposed wording for the differentiation (not the definition):
>
> Accessibility is an intended outcome for persons that experience
> disabilities.
>
> Universal design, as it is currently articulated, is a set of universal
> quality criteria for a design.
>
> Inclusive design focuses on a) achieving an integrated personal fit for
> the full range of human diversity, b) the process of design and who
> participates in the design decisions, and c) the indirect impact of the
> design or the design in its larger context.
>
> Inclusive design is more than an outcome or a set of design criteria. It
> is a systemic approach that guards against the risk that persons will be
> excluded by the outcome, the set of criteria, the design process, or the
> indirect impact of a design. As such Inclusive Design encompasses both
> accessibility and Universal Design.
>
>
>
> Thoughts?
>
> Jutta
>
>
>
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-- 
Professor Lizbeth Goodman, BA, MA, MLitt, PhD
Chair of Creative Technology Innovation
Professor of Inclusive Design, School of MME
College of Engineering and Architecture

Founder/Director, SMARTlab
Director, the Inclusive Design Research Centre of Ireland @ UCD
Founder, The MAGIC Multimedia and Games Innovation Centre

C/o SMARTlab
University College Dublin
Belfield
Dublin 4
Ireland

office: +353 (0) 1 716 1873
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skype:  lizbethlynn2

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